"Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale"—Rudolf Virchow

May 28, 2014

MERS in Iran: The silence of the media

Thanks to the Farsi reader who sent me this email, summarizing a recent newscast on MERS in Iran:

There are worries here as many people leave Iran for Saudi Arabia to do rituals of pilgrimage. It is said that there are cases of MERS in Saudi Arabia and since about 2 million people a year travel to Saudi Arabia for the rituals of pilgrimage the situation worsens dramatically. The first case was witnessed in Saudi Arabia in a 60-year-old man in September 2012, resulting in death.

It resembles the flu with more syptoms. Symptoms of this killer disease include chronic respiratory and pneumonia problems, fever, cough, and diarrhea. As the disease deteriorates kidneys will suffer too. The reason why it develops in the body is unknown but it is said that sick animals like camels and cattle are the main source for the spread.

Iran's Medical Haj and pilgrimage center stated that people should avoid it through detergents, regular freshening up, and wearing masks when contacting susceptible people.

As general as this is, it's more than I've been able to find in the Iranian online media. I'll keep looking.

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MERS in Iran: The silence of the media

Thanks to the Farsi reader who sent me this email, summarizing a recent newscast on MERS in Iran:

There are worries here as many people leave Iran for Saudi Arabia to do rituals of pilgrimage. It is said that there are cases of MERS in Saudi Arabia and since about 2 million people a year travel to Saudi Arabia for the rituals of pilgrimage the situation worsens dramatically. The first case was witnessed in Saudi Arabia in a 60-year-old man in September 2012, resulting in death.

It resembles the flu with more syptoms. Symptoms of this killer disease include chronic respiratory and pneumonia problems, fever, cough, and diarrhea. As the disease deteriorates kidneys will suffer too. The reason why it develops in the body is unknown but it is said that sick animals like camels and cattle are the main source for the spread.

Iran's Medical Haj and pilgrimage center stated that people should avoid it through detergents, regular freshening up, and wearing masks when contacting susceptible people.

As general as this is, it's more than I've been able to find in the Iranian online media. I'll keep looking.